PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK: Pats players making history

Sunday

Feb 3, 2019 at 8:50 PM

It's a Super Bowl of firsts for several New England players.

ATLANTA — History will be made for several Patriots players with Sunday’s Super Bowl LIII.

Joe Thuney, the Patriots' starting left guard, will become the first player in NFL history to start three straight Super Bowls in his first three NFL seasons. A third-round pick in 2018, he has started every single game in his career — 48 of 48 — at left guard.

“I’ve been fortunate to be part of this organization. It’s a great organization,” said Thuney, when asked about the record. “I just want to be out there with my teammates. I’ve had a lot of help along the way. I’m just fortunate to be here now.”

The 26-year-old led the Patriots in offensive snaps this season, playing 100 percent of the plays. Last season, he played 99.56 percent of the Patriots offensive play calls, which was second on the team. During his 2016 rookie season, Thuney led the Patriots in offensive snaps, playing 99.64 percent of the season total.

“I love being out there, playing for my teammates. I just want to help contribute to the team. I’ve been fortunate,” Thuney said. “I just want to play in the games, just want to play with the guys next to me. I just really like playing.”

Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia described Thuney as tough and durable. He also credited the third-year player for helping left tackle Trent Brown along.

“I think in particular, he’s meant a lot to Trent Brown. Joe’s got three years of experience in our system,” Scarnecchia said. “He’s played every play for three years. Almost every play. If it’s one percent that he’s missed, I’d be shocked. He’s been a huge help to Trent and helping to integrate Trent into our system and helping him along. I can’t thank him enough for that.”

Devin and Jason McCourty are also making history as they became the first set of twins to play together in the Super Bowl. This could also be the last run for the McCourtys.

Last week, Devin McCourty said that he might retire if he wins a Super Bowl. Although the Patriots veteran safety stepped back from those comments later in the week, it does appear to be one possible outcome. According to the NFL Network, Jason McCourty is even more likely to retire following Super Bowl LIII.

If Devin McCourty doesn’t retire, according to the report, he could step away from the Patriots if the team asks him to take a pay cut. His cap hit is set to rise to $13.435 million.

Of course, the biggest name to potentially retire is Rob Gronkowski. The tight end had been noncommittal all last week about his future plans.

Fan to be penalized: The fan who attempted to distract Tom Brady with a laser in the AFC Championship game will face some stiff consequences.

Following the Patriots' win over the Kansas City Chiefs, video emerged of a green laser pointer being shined at Brady several times throughout the contest. According to ESPN, the fan responsible “has been identified, apprehended, banned from Arrowhead Stadium for life and soon will face charges from the Kansas City district attorney.”

According to the report, Chiefs officials asked that the fan face the harshest penalties possible after the Kansas City Police Department originally planned to cite the person only for disorderly conduct.

Laser pointers are prohibited at NFL games. From the Chiefs standpoint, the hope is that this incident will stop fans in the future from trying the same tactic against opposing teams. According to ESPN, members of the military have also reached out to Brady to let him know that laser pointers can cause irreversible eye damage.

Who's in, who's out: The Patriots came into Super Bowl LIII with a healthy roster. The only player to miss a practice last week in Atlanta was Dont’a Hightower and that was due to an illness. He was off the injury report by the end of the week.

The only player limited during the week was Malcom Brown (calf) and that was on Wednesday and lasted only one day. The inactive list for the game included Stephen Anderson, James Ferentz, Obi Melifonwu, Ufomba Kamalu, Keionta Davis, Derek Rivers and Duke Dawson.

On the active roster was Deatrich Wise for the first time this postseason. The second-year defensive end returned after being a healthy scratch in the team’s previous two playoff games. In the regular season, Wise finished second on the Patriots in sacks (4.5) and quarterback hits (16).

Danny Shelton also returned to the lineup. The defensive tackle was inactive in the AFC Championship game. Shelton and Wise take the game-day roster spots of Rivers and Melifonwu, who were active in Kansas City.

Assistants on the move: It won’t take the Miami Dolphins long to announce Brian Flores as their new head coach.

According to multiple reports, the Dolphins will flying Flores — the Patriots' de facto defensive coordinator — to Florida on Monday to finalize his deal to become the next Dolphins head coach.

Flores, 39, has been with the Patriots since 2004. He’s been the team’s linebackers coach since 2016 and called the defensive plays this season, replacing Matt Patricia, who left to coach the Detroit Lions. Not only will the Patriots need a new defensive coordinator and linebacker coach, but also a new receivers coach.

Chad O’Shea is expected to be named the Dolphins next offensive coordinator. He’s been the Patriots receivers coach since 2009. He was the top candidate to replace Josh McDaniels had the offensive coordinator left to become the head coach of the Green Bay Packers.

It remains to be seen who the Patriots bring in, but it has been reported that Greg Schiano will come to the Patriots as the team’s next defensive coordinator. Schiano is a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach, He was also the head coach at Rutgers and a former Ohio State defensive coordinator.

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